The Art of Braising for Beginners

An advantage to buying tough cuts of meat, is the relatively low price. But cooking it can be a nightmare if you're not sure how to do it correctly. That's where braising comes in.

The result is "fall-off-the-bone" meats with great flavor. You can braise in a crock pot, pressure cooker or a large saute pan. Popular dishes that use a braising technique are osso buco, pot roast, braised veal & lamb shanks and braised cabbage. You can braise just about any meat, fish or vegetable.

9 Simple Steps to Great Braised Meat:

(1) Season the main ingredient with salt and pepper.

(2) Heat a few tablespoons of oil and/or butter in a heavy pan or Dutch oven.

(3) Saute meat or vegetables in the pan on medium-high heat until the meat browns.

(4) Deglaze the pan by pouring broth, stock, wine or juice and scrape any pieces of meat that are stuck to the pan and stir.

(5) Add cooking liquid (water, stock, wine, juice or some combination) to the half-way point of the main ingredient.

(6) Cover and place the meat on the middle of a rack in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

(7) Cook until completely tender. This can range from 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on what you are cooking.

(8) Remove the pan from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables out of the liquid.

(9) Remove the excess fat floating in the liquid, and then reduce the sauce to desired thickness by cooking it down over low heat until it thickens. Or, make gravy by adding a mix of equal parts fat and flour (a roux).

http://www.reluctantgourmet.com/

Technorati Tags: braising,meat,how to

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The Perfect "Shroom" for the Job.

This is a guide that gives you some great descriptions of mushrooms and what the uses are and some recipe ideas. Check it out and then check out my friend Patty's website for some great specials on a awesome variety of in-season products... tell her Tre' sent you!

Agaricus (white mushroom, button mushroom): Widely available; varies in color from white to light brown and in size from small to jumbo stuffer; plump and dome-shaped; pleasing flavor intensifies when cooked. Mature Agaricus with open veils have an intensely rich taste. Agaricus is quite versatile, being excellent for use both raw and cooked. Also available canned and dried.

Chanterelle (girolle): Vase-shaped; ranging in color from bright yellow to orange; nutty and delicate flavor and texture; expensive when fresh; also available dried and canned. Add late in the cooking process to avoid toughening. Use in salads, sauces and risottos.

Crimini (Italian brown): Naturally dark cap that ranges in color from light tan to rich brown; rich, earthy flavor is more intense than that of the Agaricus. Substitute for button mushrooms to add a more full-bodied flavor.

Shiitake (oak mushroom; Chinese black mushroom; forest mushroom; golden oak): ranging in color from tan to dark brown; characterized by broad, umbrella shaped caps up to ten inches in diameter, wide open veils and tan gills; rich, full-bodied flavor, almost steak-like, with a meaty texture when cooked. These are best when cooked in almost any method, particularly sautéing, broiling and baking. Remove stems before cooking but reserve them for soup stocks.

Oyster: Fluted cap resembles a fan; ranging in color from a soft beige brown to gray; can be eaten raw in salads but more often this mushroom is cooked to bring out its delicate flavor and velvety texture. Some say this mushroom has a faint oyster-like or seafood flavor, to match its likeness in shape to oysters.

Enoki (enokitake; enokidake; snow puff mushrooms; golden mushrooms; velvet stem): Long stems and tiny, snow-white caps; small white mushrooms are joined at the base and resemble bean sprouts; light and mild, almost fruity, flavor with a crisp texture. Also available canned. Before using, cut away from the communal base. Use in sandwiches, salads and as garnishes. If you use them in a cooked dish, add at the last possible moment as heat toughens enoki.

Portabello/Portabella: Largest of the commercially available mushrooms with a tan/brown cap, it's the mature version of the crimini. Its popularity derives from a brilliant marketing campaign in the 1980's to sell these perceived "over-mature" common mushrooms. Its long growing cycle gives a deep, meat-like flavor, and substantial texture. They are good whole, sliced, grilled, baked, stir-fried and deep-fried. Be sure to trim off the dry, fibrous portion of the stem.

Porcini (cepes; boletes; boletus; steinpilze; singular tense: porcino): Resembles the traditional fairytale toadstool; weighing from a couple of ounces to a pound each with caps from one to ten inches in diameter; smooth, meaty texture; pungent in flavor; pale brown color; very expensive; many general cooking uses. Also available dried.

Morel (black morel): A relative of the highly-prized truffle; tan to dark-brown, cone-shaped, spongey; smoky, earthy, nutty flavor; expensive and also available canned and dried. The darker the mushroom, the more pronounced is the flavor. This mushroom must be cleaned well when fresh due to its dimpled head.

http://www.earthy.com/

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Soda Nostalgia with real sugar

Do you wish your favorite sodas would taste they way you remember them? Now's your chance. Pepsi Co. has unveiled their Pepsi Throwback and Mountain Dew Throwback. So what makes this retro look taste like the past? It's made with real sugar.

A little digging reveals it actually is real sugar... a blend of cane and beet sugars. For some it's a trip down memory lane, but for others it's a way to taste the soda formulas from the 60's and 70's.

You might think Pepsi is responding to the "high fructose corn syrup" backlash. But they of course, give no indication why they're introducing these retro sodas now, even as many people look for products without HFCS.

I've taste tested both Throwbacks, and needless to say, I only tried them once. You see, I grew up on HFCS, and these "real sugar" formulas taste very different from their HFCS siblings. They don't seem to have the "bite" that I'm used to. But the sodas do seem to taste a lot smoother.

It's a taste that some would have to get used to. And for others, it'll take you back to a simpler time, where sweets were actually made with sugar. But you'll want to try the Throwbacks now, they're here only for a limited time.

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The Art of Braising For Beginners

Hey Friends, I absolutely love the braising method of cooking. It's a quite simple technique if correctly applied. I love it because it really requires more patience than work and with all of our busy schedule a lot of us still find our selves with more time than money to spare, this is a great way to take a less expensive cut of meat and turn it into something wonderful. But don't stop with meat why not braise some fresh vegetable, seafood or even fruit. I created a recipe for a great braise pineapple dessert that is amazing. I want to share with the beginners, the proper way to braise and when it appropriate and when it's not. So give this a quick read and add some more knowledge to your cooking arsenal.

Braising is a cooking technique in which the main ingredient is seared, or browned in fat, and then simmered in liquid on low heat in a covered pot. The best equipment to use would be a crock pot, pressure cooker or Dutch oven. LeCrueset makes a range of enameled pots and pans that are good for either the stove or the oven. They work well too.

Whether you choose to use the oven or the top of the stove, you will be pleased with the results. Braising is often used as a way to cook less expensive, tough cuts of meat. The end result is tender and flavorful. Other than great taste and economy, there are other reasons to cook this way.

After searing the meat, the remainder of the cooking time (until sauce/gravy preparation) does not require much attention. Once the heat is reduced, you can go about cooking other things, do some chores or take a break. This is also a plus when entertaining: you have more time for your guests.

Yet another plus of cooking with this method is that the meat tastes great and you also get delicious broth, sauce or gravy. It’s one pot cooking at it’s finest. There isn’t much to cleaning up and anything leftover can be reheated or frozen and reheated for later.

This method of cooking is great for tough cuts of meat but also works well with chicken, fish and/or vegetables. You can braise in a crock pot, pressure cooker, large saute pan or the most often used cooking vessel for braises, a Dutch oven.

Some popular dishes you may have heard of that use a braising technique are osso buco, pot roast, braised veal & lamb shanks and braised cabbage. You can braise just about any meat, fish or vegetable you want and be as creative as you like with seasoning, but there are some ingredients that are better for braising and some you want to cook using other techniques like grilling or roasting.

9 Simple Steps to Great Braised Meat

There are 9 basic steps to braising meat:

(1) Season the main ingredient with salt and pepper.

(2) Heat a few tablespoons of oil and/or butter in a heavy pan or Dutch oven.

(3) Saute meat or vegetables in the pan on medium-high heat until the meat browns.

(4) Deglaze the pan by pouring broth, stock, wine or juice and scrape any pieces of meat that are stuck to the pan and stir.

(5) Add cooking liquid (water, stock, wine, juice or some combination) to the half-way point of the main ingredient.

(6) Cover and place the meat on the middle of a rack in an oven that has been pre-heated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

(7) Cook until completely tender. This can range from 1 hour to 6 hours, depending on what you are cooking.

(8) Remove the pan from the oven and strain the meat and vegetables out of the liquid.

(9) Remove the excess fat floating in the liquid, and then reduce the sauce to desired thickness by cooking it down over low heat until it thickens. Or, make gravy by adding a mix of equal parts fat and flour (a roux).
www.reluctantgourmet.com

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"Simply Spring" Salad

1 and 1/2 orange, juice only
1/2 lemon, juice only
1/2 small red onion, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon fine grain salt

4 big handfuls of salad greens, washed and dried
1/2 cup walnut halves, toasted
1/3 cup black olives, (the wrinkly, oily ones), pitted

In a medium bowl whisk together the juice of 1/2 orange, lemon juice, most of the red onion, olive oil, and salt. Whisk together until emulsified, taste and adjust with more salt or lemon juice if needed.

Peel the remaining orange and cut into segments, removing any seeds you might encounter. Set aside.

When you're ready to serve, place the salad greens in a large bowl. Toss very gently with a generous splash of the dressing. Add the orange segments and walnuts. Give another toss. Taste and decide if you need to add more dressing, if needed, add a bit more at a time, giving a good toss between additions. Make sure the nuts and citrus haven't all gone to the bottom, help them back up to the top if needed. Serve salad topped with the remaining red onion and olives.

 www.101cookbooks.com

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"Sour Grapes" Wine Tasting 101

Many of my friends ask me about wine selections and how to pair wines and I'm always happy to assist. Here's a little article I found that will also help you with wine tasting so you won't stick out like a sour thumb at that next posh dinner, or meeting the boss for lunch or so on.

So how does one taste the wine? In four steps: look, smell, taste, spit/swallow. Step one is to look at it (once it's in the glass) and evaluate its color. In general, the younger red wines are more red than the older that tend to become more brownish. The intensity of color tells you how concentrated the wine is. White wines also change color with age, from quite pale yellow to deep yellow. Notice though that some grapes and some climates will affect the color of wine as well, so these general rules not always apply! One other thing that people do is to watch at the so-called tears: the translucent drops or thin layer of liquid that you can see descending on the walls of the glass after you stir the wine. These tears are considered by some people to be a sign of quality, although this is just a myth - they are solely an indicator of how much alcohol there is in the wine. Nice to look at nevertheless!

Step two in wine tasting is very important and is the one that separates wine from soda and other common drinks. Smelling! As you may know we have a few thousand of smell receptors in our nasal cavity, in contrast to just five basic tastes that our tongues percept. Wine contains a lot of volatile flavor molecules that are so important to feel to really enjoy wine. So, stir the glass to release the flavors into the air and put your nose into the glass - and smell. Do it one more time. Good wines have a complex pattern of flavors, although some wines don't smell that much and still can be good. Try to describe all the smells you can identify. Many of them should be familiar to you, and with time you should be able to identify which grapes have been used in certain wines just be smell alone. The easiest ones to discern are e.g. Chardonnay from Sauvignon Blanc. Then also, the different wine producers, climates, years of harvest, terroir, etc. will also have their effect on the smell of wine.

Step three is to drink a bit of wine without swallowing it, and also to get a breathe of air into your mouth so it further releases the volatile flavors in the wine. This is how the wine should be appreciated, both on the tongue and in the nose. Now you may feel additional flavor molecules in your mouth, some that you haven't smelled before. Try to describe the taste.

Step four is either swallowing or spitting out the wine gracefully into a barrel and then - not finished yet - feel how long time a wine leaves its impression on your tongue. The longer time the better quality. Usually above six seconds is a very good sign, while below three is quite bad. Why the choice between swallowing and spitting? It all depends on how much wine you want and can drink. Usually, a professional wine tasting involving many wines does not allow for much swallowing, since one may quickly get drunk!

www.chefsclasses.com

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"Pushing up Daisies" and radishes and peas on the patio

OK so I couldn't think of something wittier for the title, but you get my meaning. Patio or deck gardening can be quite the challenge because of the small amount of space there is to work with, but with a little smart thinking and patience it can be very fun and super rewarding. I grew up around gardens, as a child my grandmother had a garden my mother had a garden and I always loved to help them with it. Once I moved out and became a thinking man, I wanted to get back into gardening but I didn't have a big back yard or a few acres , I had a deck...

I began to get more interested from great shows like the "Victory Garden" and " Barefoot Contessa" and decided to do more research. I started small by planting a few items such as peppers, tomatoes, and so on,after success with those I decided this year I'd try a wider variety of things. I started my seeds about a month or so ago and everything I've planted has popped up and is thriving. Right now I have Peas, radishes, peppers (4 different kinds), 3 variety of basil, 2 variety of parsley, sage, rosemary, chives, chamomile, and a huge variety of flowers. I am so happy with the turnout.

The key for me this year was to start the seed in the sowing time, you'll figure that out by looking at most seed packs and picking out your state. I also started the seeds indoors until the sprouted and then transferred them to the different pots with enough space for them to flourish. I water the once every other day, and I also use Miracle Grow fertilizer as well.
The key is to start them in season, give plant enough space to grow properly, water and fertilize consistently and provide the proper sunlight the plant requires. Give it a try you'll see just how simple it can be. Happy Planting!

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